Asiakastieto Group has announced that there is now a record number of 382 000 persons with payment defaults in its consumer credit information register, i.e. 7 700 more than a year before. Each registered subject has on average 15 payment defaults. In 2018, approximately 1,6 million new payment default entries were registered to consumers.
”The number of persons with payment defaults is increasing, even though the economic development is positive and the employment is on the mend as well.
What we need now are quick and concrete actions to stop the problem of indebtedness from expanding. In Sweden, for example, the trend has been completely opposite. They have less persons with payment defaults than before. The extensive use of positive data has helped there”, Asiakastieto Group’s Business Director Jouni Muhonen points out.
The examination of judgments on demand for payment given by district courts provides an idea of Finns’ debt problem. According to Jouni Muhonen, the fact that the number of judgments has increased by almost a fifth (18%) is very alarming.
”Consumers applying for new credit have more debts than before. The consumers who applied for new credit from companies exchanging positive data in 2018 typically had other consumer credits in the amount of 6 500 euros. The sum has increased by a third in a year”, says Jouni Muhonen.
In practice, this statistical information confirms the general observation that consumers delay the collapse of their house of cards of debts by paying off old credits with new ones.
Examined by age groups, there are two trends in the payment defaults: the situation is improving in the youngest adult age groups, but the trend is the opposite among the seniors. There are now 9 per cent fewer people under 20 years old with payment defaults than a year ago, and among the 20 – 24 year olds, the number has also decreased slightly.
There has been a fall in the number of young persons with payment defaults already for six years. ”Companies tightened their credit policy, when an increased risk was observed with young adults. This together with enhanced training and financial awareness has helped to reverse the trend. The same development should be accomplished with other age classes as well, Jouni Muhonen observes.
On the other hand, the number of persons with payment defaults is growing fast in the group of senior citizens. As many as nearly 34 500 over 65 year olds have a payment default entry, and the number has increased by nine per cent in a year.
HT
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